HELENA – Lawmakers are heading home after wrapping up their first Legislative Week. Throughout the five days, lawmakers were busy bouncing around from meetings, to training sessions to committee hearings. They also looked into moving to annual sessions. Montana is only one of four states who meets every other year for 90 days. The week was Read More…
BILLINGS — The Montana High School Association executive board passed proposals for the MSHA to add girls wrestling and boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports during the MHSA’s annual meeting on Monday in Billings. The sports will be offered to member schools beginning with the 2020-21 school year. It was announced in late November that the Read More…
Even though our statewide radio show is called “Montana Talks,” we cover a lot of issues important to folks in the Rocky Mountain West. We also get a lot of great listeners in Wyoming thanks to the big signal from our Billings radio station: Newstalk 95.5 and AM970 KBUL. That being said, the news that Read More…
HELENA — Montana’s top Democratic state officeholder – U.S. Sen. Jon Tester – on Friday endorsed Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney in the contested Democratic primary for governor. “I can tell you that Mike will make a great leader for this state,” Tester said at a news conference in front of the state Capitol, with Cooney Read More…
On Friday, Roosevelt County Attorney and former Montana Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen will officially file to run as a Republican for the office of Montana Attorney General. KGVO spoke with Knudsen as he was taking a break on the road driving from his home in Wolf Point to Helena to file with the Read More…
More than 100 years ago, Montana and many states erected legal walls against spending public money on private religious schools, but today school choice activists are seeking to bring down those barriers using a case from Montana. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Kendra Espinoza Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Governor Steve Bullock and the U.S.D.A Rural Development State Director Charles Robinson will help celebrate the completion of Montana Craft Malt, a facility that will produce thousands of tons of malt from Montana-grown barley. The facility, inspired by a market analysis report and a variety of grant and technical assistance programs through the Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — An investment group from Billings has filed a lawsuit against the Montana Lottery over rules that require businesses wishing to offer sports gambling to have specific alcohol licenses. The lawsuit filed by Arete Group argues the legislation that authorized sports wagering did not include the alcohol license rule. The lawsuit seeks an injunction Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State University will host robotics competitions for Montana youth on Jan. 17-18, drawing nearly 120 teams from across the state and region. FIRST Lego League teams, composed of students in grades 4-8, have spent months building and programming robots made from Lego kits and will compete by performing “missions” on pool table-sized playing fields. Read More…
A statewide campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana submitted two proposed 2020 ballot initiatives for state review Monday. According to the initiative backers, The first ballot proposal would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults. In a press release, backers say it would also establish a regulatory framework for pot cultivation and sales, including Read More…
FARGO —A father and daughter who serve in the North Dakota Legislature announced on Tuesday, Jan. 7, that they are both running for reelection in November. Jim Roers, who holds the District 46 Senate seat, and his daughter, Shannon Roers Jones, who holds the District 46 House of Representatives seat, were both first elected Read More…
Wyoming lawmakers are the least conservative they’ve been in five years, a new report from a top conservative group in Washington says. However, a close review of the survey shows some oversights in the compilation of the numbers, including key differences in how the group evaluated members of the House and Senate. Numbers released Read More…
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Friday that it had placed one of its tenured professors on paid administrative leave after finding that he “purposefully failed to inform MIT” that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was source of two donations in 2012 to support the professor’s research, and that the professor got a $60,000 personal gift from Epstein. Read More…
Taco Bell is looking for new ways to win over employees in the war for talent. On Thursday, the fast-food chain announced it would test a $100,000 salary for the general managers of certain company-owned locations later this year. Taco Bell also said that all employees at company-owned stores are eligible for at least 24 Read More…
HELENA – A new bill was announced addressing the Firearm Owners Protection Act, with a focus on protecting travelers who bring firearms across state lines. The bill will clarify the term transport to include staying in temporary lodging overnight, stopping for food, fuel, and vehicle maintenance to name a few. It will also ensure that law-abiding gun Read More…
MISSOULA – After President Trump’s address to the nation, we bring the Iran conflict home to Montana and hear from the Treasure State’s leaders in the house and senate. After Wake Up Montana spoke with Senator Steve Daines, Senator Jon Tester, and Congressman Greg Gianforte, the responses were mixed, however all three agreed the world Read More…
Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen said on Thursday that she was proud to announce that graduation rates in state public schools have broken a record for the second year in a row. “This is improvement, this is growth,” said Arntzen. “For two years in a row our graduation rates have been the highest Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Just two days ago, a U.S. magistrate signed a federal search warrant in what agents suspect is a human smuggling case across Montana and Canada’s border. The 25-page document details something Border Patrol agents told NBC Montana during our special “On the Border” series last year. We toured the border near Havre and Saint Mary with Border Patrol Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a $35 million judgment against Jehovah’s Witnesses for failing to report child sexual abuse. A lower court had found that the church illegally failed to report a child sexual abuser to authorities, which allowed him to continue sexually abusing another child. The unanimous decision from seven state Supreme Court justices found Read More…
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Then you can really enjoy this spectacular, 16,000-square-foot, mountain-top dream home in the winter wonderland that’s Big Sky, Montana. Maybe strap on your snowshoes and explore the miles of powdery trails that meander through the home’s 160 wooded acres. Or master the moguls at nearby Big Sky Read More…
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview published Monday that Democrats nationwide can cultivate “too big of a tent,” asserting that she and her party’s 2020 frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, would be in different political parties in any other nation. Asked for a profile by New York Magazine about what role she might play as Read More…
A new survey found that people are mistaking 2020 Democratic presidential contender Tom Steyer for some of his competitors, despite hefty ad buys by the candidate. The New York Times released Friday the results of a quiz asking readers to identify different celebrities and political figures. The survey found that only 8% of people could properly identify Gov. Steve Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines was a cosponsor to a resolution introduced Monday that allows the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump after 25 days for lack of prosecution. The proposal, introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is a move to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to play her hand. When the trial Read More…
BOZEMAN — Alice Buckley is a few days away from two important dates. January 9 is the candidate filing open for Statewide, State District and Legislative candidates running in Montana. It’s also a couple days after her 27th birthday. “I have the interest and the commitment in having equal representation in the legislature and believe Read More…
There’s a three-way race underway for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court. Each of the candidates are relying on self funding to get their 2020 campaigns off the ground. Justice Laurie McKinnon, who lives in Helena, is running for reelection after announcing last year she would not seek a second eight-year term on the Read More…
HELENA – The Montana Historical Society will officially be getting a new look, as the Department of Administration decided to remodel and add a connected building to create the new Montana Heritage Center. The corner of 6th and Roberts will be the location for the new Heritage Center. This location is at the Capitol Complex and is on existing state-owned property. The Historical Society says by keeping the Read More…
The South Dakota legislature begins their 2020 session on January 14 in Pierre. State Farm Bureau Lobbyist Mike Held says the primary challenge facing lawmakers will be how to divide up the state budget to fund needed programs. He says Farm Bureau members are watching to see if legislators increase agricultural fees to raise revenue Read More…
BISMARCK —A New Jersey-based company that sells caller ID spoofing services is suing over North Dakota’s new anti-spoofing law, arguing it’s preempted by federal law and unconstitutional. SpoofCard LLC and CEO Amanda Pietrocola are asking a federal judge to stop the state from enforcing the law that took effect in August and to award them unspecified Read More…
Pete Buttigieg raised $24.7 million in the final three months of the year, his campaign said Wednesday. That brings the former South Bend, Ind., mayor’s total last year to about $76 million, making him one of the best fundraisers in the Democratic presidential field. Other candidates had not yet announced their fundraising hauls for the Read More…
For the last five years, University of Montana sprinter Alex Mustard has been representing the Grizzlies on the track, and now he has set his sights even higher, to represent Montana and the United States on the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. KGVO News spoke with Mustard just after his winning ‘Olympic Hopefuls’ performance was broadcast Read More…
For the past 18 consecutive months, the U.S. has led the world’s crude oil production. It surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia in June and August of 2018. One year later, the U.S. surpassed its own production record by 14.6 percent. The U.S. leading crude oil production for the first time since 1973 “demonstrates how the Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Billings Logan International Airport will offer two additional flights from Billings to Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas in 2020. The airport announced American Airlines is adding a second flight from Dallas to Billings, beginning April 7, 2020. The flight will arrive at 8:41 p.m. and depart at 6:30 a.m. the following morning. American Read More…
More than two years into reforms designed to slow, or even reverse, the growth of offenders in Montana’s correctional system, state officials say they see indications of progress. But most early data show scant change. Prisons and alternative programs for criminal offenders are still full to capacity, and there’s been no reduction in the number Read More…
The pain kept coming for hedge funds in 2019: if they weren’t being killed off, they were bleeding cash or wringing out dismal returns. The industry is now on track to record more closures than launches for a fifth straight year, a blow to a market that once minted millionaires at a heady pace. More Read More…
The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. grew from 2018 to 2019 by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, Read More…
JACKSON, Wyo. — Third quarter Wyoming economic summary report was released this week indicating growth is slowing worldwide and in the Cowboy State as well. Wyoming continues to rebound from the severe downturn in 2015-16 but the pace slowed somewhat in after the first quarter of 2019. Total employment grew by 1.2 percent (3,570 jobs) Read More…
North Dakota will again enlist the help of Hollywood actor Josh Duhamel to help promote tourism in his home state. North Dakota’s tourism department confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the star of several “Transformers” movies will be paid $175,000 to be the face of the state’s tourism campaign for the next two years. The state Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Between taxes, marijuana and a presidential election, 2020 will be a busy year for voters. There are 10 issues proposed already, but not all of them have enough signatures yet. That means it’s still up in the air whether the following initiatives will make it to the ballot. The Marijuana Regulation Act One Read More…
State health officials are worried as the number of Montanans diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease continues to rise. Montana’s gonorrhea numbers — expected to total 1,500 cases in 2019 — haven’t been this high in 40 years, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Dana Fejes, the state STD/HIV Read More…
LOS ANGELES — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was campaigning for Bernie Sanders at a jampacked beach-side rally last week when she took a moment to look beyond 2020. “I know, and we all know, that this isn’t just about Bernie Sanders,” she said. “This is about a movement that has been decades in the making.” Since endorsing Read More…